Love At Last
by samanddianefan10
Summary: Max comes to a realization that changes the course of his and Fran's life-forever. Will it be smooth sailing for them or will Fran find that love wasn't exactly what she'd hoped for.


Today was the fourth anniversary of Sara's death, and Fran was all too keenly aware of it. Fran had fallen madly in love with Maxwell Sheffield the minute she had laid eyes on him, but had known that he was "Emotionally Unavailable"-her favorite type of guy. She knew she had three choices- be patient, give up, or try to compete with a ghost. The latter wouldn't work- all Fran knew how to be was to be herself, and if he didn't love her for that, well she would rather find out the hard way than to pretend to be someone she wasn't. She'd tried that before, but somehow her mother's voice would always get back to her- Be yourself Frannie, because if you don't then how will you know if you've found the right one?

So she tried to give up on Mr. Sheffield. Somehow, though he would always sense when she'd had enough and find a way to draw her back in. It was like a sixth sense he had. So that left her no other choice- be patient and hope that love would find a way into their relationship. It was there, at least it was for her. But what about Mr. Sheffield? Fran had a feeling she may never find out.

So she did what she always did on important days to the family, and put in a tape of the kids' mother for them all to enjoy. She didn't mind; anything she could do to make the kids smile (even through tears) was her pleasure. Of course she felt bad for the tears that ran down Gracie and Maggie's faces, but she knew this was the good kind of tears- tears of love. Although it wasn't quite the same , she understood those tears well. How many nights had she shed tears over their father? And yet he never knew.

So after the viewing was done Fran slipped quietly out of the room, where the family could be alone. (Mr. Sheffield wasn't the only one with a sixth sense!) And she withdrew quietly to her room, where she could gather her own thoughts.

It was a few hours later when she heard a knock on the door. Figuring it was one of the kids, Fran quickly ran to answer it, but to her surprise it was their father instead.

"Oh, Mr. Sheffield," she sighed. "I thought it was the kids."

"No, Miss Fine, they've been asleep for 45 minutes. I thought I would come up here and thank you…thank you for everything you've done for my children. You mean the world to them and I cannot repay you for all of your graciousness," Max replied.

"Well you could increase my limit line at Loehman's," she smiled.

He smiled as well. "No, Miss Fine. That's not exactly what I had in mind."

Curious, she turned around to face him, still clutching her tear-stained pillow. "Why, Mr. Sheffield, what do you have in mind?"

Before she could say anything else he surprised them both by drawing her in for a kiss. Their trademark, world -stand -still, hold- your -breath and hope it never ends kind. She definitely did not protest.

"Miss Fine, I know this is a lot to ask…but would you..nevermind. The thought's absurb and it goes far beyond your responsibility here."

"I'd do anything for you, Mr. Sheffield. I want you to know that," Fran managed to say as soon as she got her breath back.

"I know you would. And I think I've taken advantage of that far too many times. If I've ever hurt you in any way than I want you to know how sorry I am. Right now you are the one person in my life I would never want to hurt, other than the children of course."

Tears came to Fran's eyes as she tried to look away from him. He gently touched her face and brought her back to make eye contact.

"Miss Fine…Fran… look at me please. Have I upset you?"

"You could never upset me. Infuriate, yes, but never upset."

"Why are you so good to me?"

"It's easy to do when you love someone," Fran replied smiling at him.

"You…you do love me don't you?"

"With all of my heart," she replied in her nasally voice. There was no mistaking her words for anything less than sincere.

"And I love you too, Fran."

"Just as friends, right? Please tell me that you love me as friends…" she was too scared to get her hopes up, but she just had to hear the words from Mr. Sheffield's mouth himself.

Taking a deep breath, Max finally gathered his courage after what had seemed like a lifetime, or at least it had to Fran. "No, Fran. I love you with all of my heart. There are no words to exclaim that could be suited for this moment. I know I've given you false hope, and for that I'm very, very sorry. But tonight Sara spoke to me, after the kids went to bed, and she told me something that I should have known all along."

"What did she say, Max?"

"She told me that you're the one."

Still afraid to dream, she prodded him gently. "And what do you think?"

"I know that you are the one. You've brought so much happiness and joy into this household. I knew that Sara loved me, there was no doubt about that. But I know she wants me to move on with my life, and if I keep stalling I may lose one of the greatest loves of my life. So actually I have two questions."

By this time there were no dry eyes in the room. "Yes, Max?"

"Do you love me?"

"With all of my heart and soul," she reassured him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, leaving no doubt to her sincerity.

"I love you too, Fran."

"What about the second thing you wanted to ask me?" she murmured in between kisses.

"Oh, yes, that. Well I may appear foolish or childish to you, and that's the last thing I ever wanted to do. Especially to you. Your opinion of me means everything, whether or not I've let that show."

"It's okay, Max, you're safe with me. I would never say or do anything to hurt you."

"Will you…oh stop it man, you have imposed enough on this woman already. Just leave it alone," Max scolded himself.

She touched his face and then looked into his eyes. "You can ask me anything. I would never hurt you for all the money in the world."

"Fran," Max took a deep breath. "Will you..will you stay with me tonight?"

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere."

"I mean, will you spend the night in my room. With me. I am not ready for anything else to happen, but I would really appreciate your company tonight."

Fran smiled knowingly. "Anything for you, Max. It would be my honor to stay with you."

And so they slept, with Max's arms safely around Fran, both ready for the next chapter of their lives to begin. And the best part was, they were beginning it together.

TBC


End file.
